When I Wake
by Stripes that Parallel
Summary: In the silence just before sleep takes them both, Kurogane and Fai have a heartfelt discussion. Complete and utter fluff.


**When I Wake**

[In the silence just before sleep takes them both, Kurogane and Fai have a heartfelt discussion. Complete and utter fluff.]

**Rating ****- T **[snippets of implied sex and sleepy kisses]

**Warning **- Fluff. So much fluff. Kurogane is _very_ happy, surprisingly affectionate, and downright sappy, and Fai can't complain.

**Disclaimer - **I own nothing except for my own shock, because how in the world did I manage to not only write and finish two stories around the same time but post them back to back - _how _- I don't know, but apparently oneshots are the way to go with me. Enjoy!

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><p>It is rare that throughout the endless prose of bickering, teasing, and arguing, provoked constantly by the playful remarks of the blue-eyed mage and the ferocious threats of the crimson-eyed warrior, the two of them will ever settle for a moment of silence. But there are times when silence is unavoidable, and times when it is welcomed, even.<p>

It sometimes happens in the quiet moments before sleep snatches them, tangled between the press of cooling skin and warm sheets, breathing coming soft and slow and their limbs relaxed.

A lingering sensation of warmth is still tingling in Fai's belly, drowsiness pulling on his eyelids but not quite strong enough to capture him entirely. He hums low in his throat.

"Kuro-tan?"

The warrior beside him, still caught up in the relaxed bliss of release, sighs a little, nuzzling his nose into the tangled mess of his lover's flaxen-blond hair.

"Hn."

Fai smiles, teasing at a tanned shoulder lazily with his fingertip. The warrior shifts in something bordering annoyance, puffing out a breath.

"Oi."

"What?"

"That tickles."

Fai grins impishly. "I know."

"Then quit it."

"Why should I?"

Kurogane squints one eye open and wrinkles his nose.

"You wouldn't want your face to freeze like that, would you?" Fai chides, tilting his head into the curve of a warm shoulder and reaching up to flick a tanned nose with a smirk.

Kurogane makes a face, and would have snapped his teeth at the finger darting across his mouth if it hadn't moved so quickly.

"Feh."

"So grumpy," Fai muses, and entertains himself by tracing the line of Kurogane's throat, his fingers falling slowly across pronounced collarbones. A large hand climbs up the side of his thigh, grafted skin rough with synthetic calluses that drag over the curve of his hip and press a cool brand into the dip of his lower back.

Fai can't help arching his spine a little, his eyes fluttering. "Mm." His fingertips run down the line of Kurogane's sternum, palm spreading wide and his ring finger catching on a crease of ivory skin. "What's this one from?"

"I told you," Kurogane murmurs, teeth catching on a pale earlobe as his mouth moves down, "Got nicked during training once."

"Oh, right." Fai admires the scar quietly a moment, running his thumb across it, and a shiver traces his spine as the warrior sighs into his neck. Gently, Kurogane teases at his skin with his teeth, and Fai can't help chuckling a little.

"You're tickling me," he whines, and the warrior smirks.

"Tche." A short peck falls just below, and then another, pressing into the junction of the blond's shoulder. The warrior mutters something about payback, but Fai doesn't pay attention to it, tilting into the slow venture of warm lips with a drowsy moan.

Stillness falls gradually between them again, the distance chirp of tree frogs muffled through plaster walls as Fai breathes in the musk of the warrior's skin.

"Kuro?" he whispers after a moment, gazing absently up at the beamed ceiling.

"Hn."

"What should do from now on?"

Kurogane arches a brow, blinking at the blond questioningly. "Help the brats find their parents."

"Of course. But after that...?"

The warrior falls silent a moment. "What do you want to do?" he asks huskily.

"Oh, I don't know," Fai breathes. He closes his eyes, turning his head into the warmth of Kurogane's arm. "We've seen so many things."

His lover glances down at him, red eyes puzzled and at once attentive.

"Yeah. There's still things to see." Kurogane runs his fingers through the fine hairs at the base of Fai's neck, mussing them comfortingly. "What's something you want to go do?"

The blond shrugs, mumbling indifferently.

"Nah, don't give me that," Kurogane says with a half-smirk. "C'mon, there's gotta be something."

Fai'a fingers trace absently down the curves of the ninja's abdomen.

"Mh," he hums thoughtfully, his brows puckering. "Well, I've always liked the beach. I never saw one, before we started traveling. Only mountains." A wistful sigh drifts out of his lips, and he presses a soft kiss to Kurogane's collarbone. "Just tall, tall mountains." A tanned hand climbs up the bumps of his spine slowly. "And the coastline is so..."

"Yeah?"

"...free."

Kurogane gazes down at him silently, a slight smile pulling at his mouth.

"That's what I'd like," Fai continues softly, "I'd like to go somewhere where the ocean stretches on and on past the horizon and I can see the sun rise over it."

Kurogane smirks, slow and tenderly. "Alright."

Fai peeks up at him under his lashes and beams, puffing a warm breath into his face. "You know, you have a beautiful smile."

Flushing pink up to his ears, Kurogane scoffs and looks away with a scowl. "Like hell."

"You do!" Fai pokes a reddened cheek with a bright grin, winking. "But, really," he whispers, his tone dampening into a softer sort of hopefulness as his hand trails down to rest on Kurogane's left shoulder, smoothing over the near-invisible seam of natural and synthetic skin, "promise me. Before we go, promise to take me there, just once."

Kurogane runs his thumb in an almost wordless reverence across the curve of Fai's cheek, ghosting over the corner of his lips. "Okay," he says gently.

Fai nuzzles into curve of his neck, his hands relaxing against the heat of the ninja's skin, and when he speaks again, his voice is so quiet that Kurogane just catches the wisp of breath.

"And Kuro...?"

"Hn."

"...be here when I wake."

His lover stares down at him with an expression caught between bafflement and adoration before he shakes his head, chuckling somewhat.

"Yeah, idiot," he murmurs, placing a feather-light kiss on the blond's temple as he begins to fall into slumber, "Always."

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><p><strong>AN - **I have absolutely no idea what possessed me to write this schmoop of rainbow-stuffed pillows at two in the morning last night, but now it's here, and I just about died re-reading it this morning. So I knew I had to post it. Hopefully this will warm your heart on a cold winter morning and leave you feeling as stupidly smiley as it did for me. I love these two idiots. So much. *slides back into bed and cries* Feel free to drop me a review, I love reading them! Also, I am entertaining writing prompts from you guys, so if you have any ideas, my inbox is always open!


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